Serenno

[Raia Montar]

A message comes in on Alora's comm for Master Draken from the Ravenhammer's main comms, using Raynuk's encryption channels.

 

 

Instead of Raynuk, Raia stood in the holoprojector, wearing a black wrap-front, short-sleeved shirt, and loose training pants and was positively beaming at the projector. It might stand out that the tattoos which had run across her upper chest, shoulders, and arms when Draken and Alora had last seen her a week prior were completely absent.

 

Master Draken, if you still want me as your student, I am ready. Please tell Mistress Alora I said hello as well. I look forward to seeing you again when we all meet up with the Dark Lord.

 

[Raia Montar]

The short trip from the medbay to the cockpit had been painful, but bearable. Alora remained with her, and between the Sith Mistress and tuk’ata, Raia managed to make it to the cockpit under her own power. She took the seat next to her new teacher and took in the breath-taking and, to her, the somewhat alien beauty of Serenno, only vaguely aware of Alora’s answer to her earlier inquiry as she did her best to take in everything.

 

She managed to fight down her feelings of overwhelm as she descended the ramp with some assistance from Vex’aedr. Looking on, silently as Draken first addressed and dismissed the medical team, then dealt with his advisors in a similarly efficient manner. There was a fair amount discussed that she didn’t quite fully understand, but knew enough of Draken and how he ran things to know that it wouldn’t be long before those knowledge gaps would be filled. He demanded obedience, but not at the expense of understanding and learning.

 

Vex’aedr tensed as a girl came running towards the trio of Sith, but Raia leaned her head against his. “We’re under Master Draken’s protection now, Brālis. These are his people. We are safe here.” Raia wasn’t sure how much of that she’d whispered for the tuk’ata’s reassurance or her own, but she had little time to think on it before Alora was introducing her to the other girl.

 

Raia returned the blonde-haired girl’s shy smile with one of her own, before looking back to Draken unsure of what was expected next, so she dipped her head slightly. “It’s nice to meet you as well. Was there anyone else that arrived recently?” The question had been hopeful since her father had left Kashyyyk before they had.

 

Tresix's face wrinkled for a moment, whether it was recalling if there were any other ships present on the Southern Landing Pad or trying to parse past Raia's accent; the girl wasn't sure. "Not that I saw, milady. If you let me know the name of the ship you're expecting, I promise to come find you as soon as it lands."

 

"It would be the Ravenhammer, my father's ship," Raia answered. "He might be arriving in another, but I don't know the name of it," she added looking toward Draken, hoping that he would know the name of Raynuk's fighter.

[Raia Montar]

((Co-written))

 

Raia obediently nodded her understanding to Draken and, as she was introduced to Draken’s Chamberlin, she gave another small nod to acknowledge the man before following him out of the hangar with Vex alongside her.

 

As she was led through the palace to her rooms, she pretended to take in her surroundings, but her mind still reeled from what had happened on Kashyyyk. Draken had warned her to be subtle, so as much as she wanted to reach out through the Force for the familiar presence of her father, she chose to settle for merely missing him instead. She couldn’t betray anything if she were silent.

 

For his part, Malachdor pointed out some of the art pieces that adorned the corridors, offering up their histories that Raia only halfway paid attention to as they slowly made their way to her rooms.

 

Finally, he stopped before a set of double doors. “Ah here we are, these are your quarters. They overlook the palace gardens and the mountains beyond. There is a bell cord that will summon a servant in each of your rooms should you require anything.”

 

“Thank you,” Raia managed as she made her way with Vex past him and entered the main room before he closed the door behind her and left to see to his other duties.

 

Once more, she found herself alone in a strange environment. Finally finding a relative quiet that seemed content to carry with it the ghost sounds of screams, roars, and cracking wood.

 

Despite her legs and hips hurting from all the walking she’d been doing, she forced herself to stay upright long enough to explore what would be hers during the duration of her apprenticeship with Draken.

 

The double doors had opened on to a reasonable-sized sitting room that also included a small desk at one of the windows overlooking the snow-capped mountains.

 

Toward the center of the room, Raia saw a table and some chairs. It was here that the promised meal had been set out for both her and Vex’aedr.

 

The other door led to a bedchamber that was about four times the size of her room on the Ravenhammer and contained a richly decorated four-post bed. Across from that door were two others, one that led to a refresher (complete with a full soaking tub) and the other that was a room that held nothing but clothes.

 

Her stomach was quick to remind her how hungry she was, so she quickly ate the presented meal and decided to change out of the surgical garments she still wore. Finding something relatively warm since she found Serenno to be much colder than the desert and jungle planets that she’d experienced up until this point in her life.

 

She found an ankle-length, dark grey dress with a straight neckline and long sleeves. Though the cut of the garment was simple and fit her well, the fabric was a mid-weight high-quality wool, and she found a crimson sleeveless coat of the same length to wear as an extra layer.

 

The pain had proved too much when she tried to fit into some boots, so she looked until she found some flatter shoes that also had a soft lining.

 

“Are you ready to go find Master Draken?” she asked Vex, who was licking the last remnants of his meal from the bowl. At his whuff, she ran the bell as she’d been instructed and waited for someone to escort her to her teacher and current guardian.

 

---

 

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting,” she offered as best a bow as she could manage as her escort disappeared, leaving her alone with Draken. “It’s still hard for me to get around and your home is so big.”

 

She made her way over to the bench nearest him and sat down. From outside the glass windows, she could see the shape of Vex’aedr following her movement. He settled down when she sat, and she reached out to him through the Force to reassure him she was fine, just a bit sore and tired from all of the walking.

 

“It is alright Raia,” he smiled and took a seat on the bench beside her. “The palace does take a bit of getting used to, and you have only seen a small portion of it. Now, I believe I promised to answer some of your questions.”

 

Raia nodded, finally seeming to relax a bit. “What is a Chamberlin? Does he know about us?”

 

“The position of Chamberlain is one of great trust. His task is to oversee the day to day affairs of the Palace. His word is final on all affairs barring my own with the exception of security matters. He knows that I am a Sith as is the Lady Alora. He also knows that you are my apprentice as well as my ward. There are a few people on the planet outside of my Black Guard that are aware of my loyalties, and he is one of them. His family has served the royal family of Serenno for several hundred years. You needn’t worry about him.”

 

Raia nodded and grew silent for a few moments as flashes of some of the fighting on Kashyyyk washed over her. Imagined events based on Draken’s childhood account of children being selected by the Jedi on Vjun mixed and swirled in, adding to her confusion. “Do the Jedi not give parents a choice? They just take the children because they can use the Force? What if the children don’t want to go?”

[Raia Montar]

The girl nodded and subconsciously ran her left hand down her right arm, not responding further as she shut her eyes against the memory of that horrible night.

 

The insidious voice echoed once more in her mind, a mere phantom tied to the memory that persisted right up until she opened her eyes as her father had snapped her neck…

 

“Before Kashyyyk. Tētis...removed them.” She took a deep breath and began to speak much faster, as though she were trying to put as much distance between her and whatever had happened as possible.

 

“Though, I think I will have to learn something different to call him, since speaking the Sith language isn't very subtle and explaining it could be tricky...would ‘Papa’ work? Has there been any word from him. He promised to meet us here. I heard him. Papa doesn't break his promises,” she finally took a breath after trying out what she thought to be a Basic equivalent to ’Tētis and looked up at her Master with her storm-grey eyes, hoping her answer was enough.

[Raia Montar]

Draken raised his left eyebrow when she mentioned about Raynuk removing her tattoos. She supposed it didn’t sit right with him since he knew how those tattoos worked. Unknown to her, there were only three methods of removal, and none of them were pleasant.

 

He said nothing further and instead answered her question, “‘Papa’ is an appropriate term although ‘Father’ tends to be used more often.”

 

In one smooth, regal motion Draken rose from the bench, signaling the end of their discussion for the moment. “It is getting late, and you will have another Bacta treatment tomorrow so get some rest. We will begin official training when your bacta sessions are complete. For now, you might find the Grand Library of some interest. If you go, ask for some books on the subject of economics, which is as much a driving force in the civilized galaxy as the Force itself.”

 

Raia only offered another nod before rising and leaving, Vex’aedr close on her heels as soon as she was out of the greenhouse.

 

---

 

((About five days later.))

 

“I regret that we have not seen or spoken to each other since the battle of Kashyyyk, and I know you were looking forward to and expecting me to come to Serenno to properly see you off on your apprenticeship to Master Shadowlord. But as has too often become the case, I found my attention and efforts pulled elsewhere.

 

“I wish I could say it was for a righteous cause, but that would be a lie little one. And though I am reaching out to you now, I do so only in the brief reprieve that traveling through hyperspace has allotted me, as I rush headlong into another matter of duty. I go to face it knowing I may not return to see you and the progress you have made under Draken's wise teachings until far too long.

 

“You are as strong of spirit as Vex'aedr is of body. Never forget it, especially when the path before you grows hardened, and you find yourself surrounded by doubts. I will see you again, but until then, take good care of Vex for me."

 

She’d lost count of how many times she’d replayed her father’s message over the last few days as her bacta treatments and her healing efforts had continued. Every time she woke up after coming out of the tanks, she’d dreamed he was standing there, waiting for her. Each time, she’d become more disappointed and withdrawn when he wasn’t, until that comm had come through after her last bacta session on the third day since arriving on Serenno.

 

Emily had been right. Raynuk had promised to meet them on Draken’s homeworld, and he’d broken that promise to her in the name of pursuing some other “duty” that had landed in his lap. What about his duty to her? What about his promise to her?

 

The message no longer brought tears of sadness or anger to her eyes any longer, at least. Knowing that she wasn’t good company, she’d barely left her rooms since receiving the message and opted to bury herself in the study of subjects that Draken had directed her to peruse.

 

Still, despite her disappointment and even anger toward his abandonment of her, she missed him and only played the message because she dared not reach out through the Force to find him. As much as she hated it, she still needed to hear his voice. She loved him and felt she needed him near.

 

Vex, having grown tired of both the messages repetition and the effect it had on the girl, had taken to lounging near the double doors that opened into her chambers, still maintaining his charge to guard her.

 

Raia hit the key that played the message again. She could hear the tuk’ata sigh from across the room.